Contractors needed as 'years' of seawall work awaits Cape Coral residents

The News-Press

James Thomas, an employee with Williamson and Sons Marine Construction, prepapres an area during the construction of a seawall at a Cape Coral home Friday morning, November 27, 2017. Seawall damage to the Cape Coral area is extensive and it appears many won't get their walls repaired for a year or more.

Hurricane Irma left a massive bill for hundreds of Cape Coral residents, some of whom will have to wait a year or more until their seawalls are repaired and ready for another hurricane season.

"I put a deposit down about $3,200 and the contract is about $18,000 for me," John Deck said while sitting in the dining room of his Cape Coral home. "I applied with FEMA; they told me to contact the Small Business Administration and they’re supposed to have somebody out here in two to three weeks."

Will it be repaired in time to safeguard the home during the next hurricane season?

"No," he said. "I hadn't really thought about that."

Deck isn't alone as about 1,000 other properties in Cape Coral need seawall repair or replacement in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

The problem, besides the costs, is there are only a handful of seawall contractors in the Cape Coral area.

Raymond "Bubba" Williamson has been working seven days a week since Hurricane Irma made landfall on Sept. 10.

Williamson, who heads one of only a few marine contractors in the Cape Coral area that specializes in seawall construction, has spent the past two months building and repairing seawalls across the city.

"This is probably two or three years of work," said Williamson, owner of Williamson and Sons Marine Construction in Cape Coral. "There’s no telling what our future looks like. We can’t build them all, there’s just no way."

James Thomas, an employee with Williamson and Sons Marine Construction, carries materials for the construction of a seawall at a Cape Coral home Friday morning, November 27, 2017. Seawall damage to the Cape Coral area is extensive and it appears many won't get their walls repaired for a year or more.

The costs to repair the damages ranges from about $30,000 to $50,000 for a lot that has 80 feet of canal frontage.

That's upwards of $50 million of seawall work that's needed in the city.

The seawalls crumbled during Hurricane Irma, which actually pulled water from the canals.

More:Cape Coral eyes loan program to help pay for sea wall repairs

Water provides the pressure necessary to keep the walls in place, just like the dirt and rocks support the wall on the land side.

Heavy rains fell on the land during the same time the canals were low, so that water pushed against the seawalls from the land side and eventually caused the walls to fail.

James Thomas, an employee with Williamson and Sons Marine Construction, works on the construction of a seawall for a Cape Coral home Friday morning, November 27, 2017. Seawall damage to the Cape Coral area is extensive and it appears many won't get their walls repaired for a year or more.

"We’ve put out over 400 bids at this point," Williamson said. "People who’ve got the money are going ahead and getting in line. With people who don’t have the money, I’m not sure how they’re going to handle it."

Williamson said some residents have called contractors in cities like Naples and Marco Island but that the extra travel costs make the job too expensive for most.

Bringing in outside contractors may be the only way to get all the homes finished by the next hurricane season, which starts June 1, 2018.

With homes on saltwater canals selling for more than $300,000, the cost of replacing a damaged seawall could be 15 percent or more of the entire value of the home.

"We’re just trying to make available some financial help because the quotes we’re seeing are a lot of money," said Cape Coral spokeswoman Connie Barron. "We’ve encouraged the residents to look at various options in regards to financing like the Small Business Administration and the city is also putting together the PACE program."

More:Hurricane Irma aftermath: Punta Gorda experiences seawall failures

The U.S. Small Business Administration has a disaster loan program that offers low-percentage loans for qualified homeowners and renters living in an area hit by a natural disaster.

Qualified homeowners in Cape Coral would be able to borrow up to $40,000 to repair or replace personal property, according to SBA records.

PACE, or Property Assessment Clean Energy program, is a state loan program focused on helping homeowners make improvements in the areas of energy efficiency and hurricane and storm protection.

The work is done through a third-party contractor, and the loan trumps the basic mortgage in case the homeowner goes broke.

People like Deck hope the Small Business Administration will provide low-interest loans to pay for the work.

"(But) I’m looking at nine months to a year from now," Deck said.

For now, people in the seawall construction industry are doing little but eating, sleeping and working.

"My guys are averaging 70 hours a work and doing six days a week," Williamson said. "I’m trying to do as much as I can as quick as I can."

Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Facebook.